The Art of Moping
by AonoRunic
Summary: As far as Thor was concerned, Loki's sulking episodes were completely melodramatic. (Part of the There Were Happy Times series.)


Thor knew, as soon as he saw Loki, that he was going to have a time of it trying to persuade his brother to stop moping (and to turn the Warriors Three back into Æsir, but a mopey Loki was a bored, and therefore dangerous, Loki). He finally found Loki in the center of Frigga's garden, sitting on a boulder with his chin propped against the palm of his hand. Thor had passed this particular rock earlier in his search, which meant Loki had grown impatient with waiting to be found and moved his moping self to a less obscure location. That was never a good sign.

Still, Thor was not concerned. He knew how to handle his brother's melodrama. "Brother, I was growing worried," Thor said, followed by a sigh of relief as he stepped up beside the rock. "I have searched everywhere for you."

"Obviously not," Loki muttered in response, turning away from Thor to give him the cold shoulder. "Otherwise you would have found me."

"To be fair, I was waylaid multiple times by Fandral. What creature did you transform him into? I have never seen its like before."

The beginnings of a smile creep at the edges of Loki's lips. "A snow monkey." He was trying not to sound pleased with himself, and he was failingly miserably. Not that Thor thought he was trying all that hard in the first place.

"And Hogun?" Thor asked. He was developing a suspicion about just where Loki had seen these strange animals, and he did not approve of it in the slightest.

"A buffalo." Thor waited, knowing Loki could not help himself. Sure enough a moment later he added, "Volstagg is an elephant, in case you were wondering."

"Loki, you have been spending time with the tricksters from the other pantheons again," Thor accused. He did not need Loki to confirm it. He always pulled stunts like this after doing so. After the whole incident when they were children where Loki had first attempted transformation and turned Thor into a dog, Loki had practiced the magic diligently, but in his own way. Over the years he had become exceptionally skilled at it, and lately he practiced his shape shifting powers against those who annoyed him. (There had been numerous complains about it. Balder, currently a mongoose, refused to come out from under Loki's bed and had been stuck there for days now. At least Loki fed him.)

Loki's answer was a shrug of his shoulders. "Perhaps."

"Loki, if you are not careful you will become a trickster god yourself." That was the last thing Thor wanted for his brother. Trickster gods were not trusted outside their own pantheons, sometimes not even within. They were not well loved, and that was not something Loki deserved. Yes, Loki was a little strange, what with the whole decision to pursue the path of the magician before that of the warrior, and people judged him for it already, but Thor would have them love Loki as he did.

"I see nothing wrong with that." Loki shuffled over on the rock, turning further away from his brother. "Trickster gods are not troubled with such things like social expectations."

Ah, so that was what this was all about. They would surely be having a conversation about it the moment Thor actually convinced Loki to change back the Warrior's Three, but right now, he needed Loki to do so before Odin became aware of the situation.

"Loki, you need to change them back, before they manage to tear apart the council room. Fandral already managed to destroy a chandelier. Volstagg keeps crashing into columns."

"Then there is no need to rush," Loki retorted, practically sticking his nose up in the air. "Father will know of it anyways."

"It will be much worse if you do not fix it now. Loki," Thor pleaded, "I do not want to see you in trouble again. If you change them back now, Father will be lenient."

Loki took a deep breath, and just when Thor thought he had finally reached his brother, Loki laid back across rock, stretching out cat like in a position that could not be comfortable. "They deserve it."

Thor stamped his foot, strangling back the scream that ripped its way from his throat. "Well you are not doing much to prove Fandral wrong about your ability to copulate with rocks, what with you constantly sulking off around them!"

That had been the wrong thing. Thor knew it had been as soon as the words were spoken out loud. Loki's head turned slowly to glare at Thor, anger causing his eyes to flash…or perhaps that was his magic.

Frigga sighed deeply when she saw her youngest son. Yes, she was glad he had returned, but the giant golden dog trotting along at his side was cause for concern. "Loki."

The sound of his mother's exasperated voice only brought a smile to Loki's lips. "Good afternoon, Mother." The dog next to him barked happily and wagged his tail.

Frigga leaned forward, and the dog gladly came up to her, resting his large head in her lap. He began panting happily when she scratched behind his ears. "At the very least, he makes a truly magnificent dog."


End file.
